Battle Royale: Senseless
by Scarbucks Coffee
Summary: In Japan, a student's worst nightmare can be expressed in two words: "The Program". The Program is simple: kill your classmates until only one remains. But will the addition of two foreigners to this year's seemingly average class turn the tides so they can escape? Or will this change be meaningless, leaving the class to suffer the same terrible fate as those before them?
1. Student List

Before we get on with everything...

 *** Battle Royale is property of Koushun Takami, Kinji Fukasaku, and Kenta Fukasaku. I only own this fanfiction and its characters, unless specified otherwise. ***

 *** However, I am quite aware that this kind of disclaimer is fairly pointless, since copyright law is about lost profits, not plagiarism. As such, this disclaimer is my way of giving credit and respect to the original writers. Thank you, and have a nice day. ***

 _In a fascist alternate timeline Japan called the Greater East Asia Republic, the government has an unique way of curbing delinquency amongst its youth: It chooses one class of high school students at random every six months, then kidnaps the whole class and places them all in an isolated area with no chance of escape. The students are given one weapon each, then — under the threat of death — forced to kill each other until only one student remains alive. This once controversial (but now regularly recurring) military experiment has gone on since 1947 and is known only as "The Program."_

\- _TV Tropes_ ' description of Battle Royale

 **CLASS 3-B**

 **BOYS**

1\. Masaharu Akamine

2\. Kyoichi Itsuka

3\. Masao "Boss" Ezawa

4\. Ryuuta Okamura

5\. Hayate Kamiya

6\. Shan Kobayashi

7\. Johnson Hsiung

8\. Tsukasa Shimada

9\. Yuusuke Shimizu

10\. Kyon Sugawa

11\. Mitsu Sugawa

12\. Tai Sugiura

13\. Kyoya Tsunemura

14\. Sherman Tendo

15\. Kouta Hashimoto

16\. Yamamoto Himura

17\. Hotaru "Ryu" Fukuda

18\. Shunpei Furuya

19\. Daisuke Matsushita

20\. Tobei Yamashita

21\. Akihide Yoshihara

 **GIRLS**

1\. Ren Aikawa

2\. Nanae Uramen

3\. Mayumi Ooshima

4\. Matsuri Okami

5\. Iyumi Kawamoto

6\. Hiromi Koyama

7\. Maika Takagi

8\. Ami Tachibana

9\. Megumi Tendo

10\. Chisa Tokimura

11\. Rina Nakatani

12\. Rei Hagane

13\. Yuuka Hayashida

14\. Satomi Harukaze

15\. Anzu Fujikawa

16\. Natsumi Mikami

17\. Toshimi Mitsui

18\. Chika Mizushima

19\. Mio Yazaki

20\. Yukina Yanagi

21\. Karin Yukimura


	2. A Half-Empty Glass

**And so the story begins...**

 _Day 1_

 _Elapsed Time: 0:01:12_

Shunpei Furuya (Boy #18) stumbled blindly out into the light, still half-dazed from what had just happened.

When it was announced that Class 3-B was going on a field trip, it seemed completely harmless. The Program was the last thing on anyone's minds when they heard this.

Nobody expected the air conditioner to suddenly begin emitting sleeping gas. Nobody expected to wake up with a steel collar wrapped around their necks; an explosive collar to keep them in line.

Nobody expected that they were the unlucky ones this year.

 _Seriously, what are the chances of THIS happening? My class, out of the thousands of others… that's like a one-in-a-million._

But that wasn't important right now. Right now, he needed to focus on finding somewhere safe and determining who he could trust. He just had to sit down and deduce who was going to kill him on sight.

That required time. And, unfortunately, time was not a resource he could spare right now. He needed to get away from the gate before the other students left. You never know who could be willing to play the game.

Shunpei was Boy #18, meaning that he was the thirty-sixth one out of the starting area - the school. In two minutes, Chika Mizushima (Girl #18) would leave the school.

Chika Mizushima… could he trust her? Shunpei didn't know her particularly well, so he didn't expect _her_ to trust _him_ …

He remembered that Tobei Yamashita (Boy #21) had once described her as an innocent girl who was often late to events. She was close friends with Hiromi Koyama (Girl #6), and the two would often be murmuring to each other in the middle of a lecture.

Despite the constant distractions, however, Hiromi was one of the highest-scoring students in Class 3-B. As far as Shunpei knew, she was the logical and cool-headed type, although a bit on the quiet side. But could she be trusted as an ally?

Who else did he have?

Shunpei shook his head and started running forwards aimlessly. As he ran, his eyes restlessly scanned the town surrounding him. This round of the Program was taking place in some prefecture that had been evacuated under false warnings of terrorist attacks. It was a nice place; towering skyscrapers and smaller shops dotted the surrounding streets. Pity that it would all go to waste…

Between two pristine shops - a newly-cleaned McDonalds and a slightly weathered convenience store - was a sliver of an alleyway, shrouded in shadows. To someone running from the school, it was all too easy to miss; after all, the McDonalds building was slightly larger in the front, concealing the entrance.

Shunpei dove into the alley, making sure that he was out of sight. As soon as he stopped moving, his body collapsed in the alley's shadows and he heaved an exhausted sigh. Frankly, his paranoia probably made those couple minutes much worse than they should've been.

He unzipped the bag suspended on his shoulder. A couple biscuits and stuff… water… a watch… a compass… a nice-looking flashlight… a map of the battle arena. His fingers pushed these aside as they probed deeper into the bag.

 _An axe?_

Rather, it was a small throwing tomahawk. Shunpei felt a tinge of disappointment; after all, he could've gotten a gun or something more useful, but…

"Hey, you shouldn't be complaining."

Shunpei immediately stood up, raising the tomahawk. That voice… it was a male voice, so it had to be one of the guys.

The guys who had entered right before him were… Ryu Fukuda (Boy #17), Yamamoto Himura (B0y #16), and Kouta Hashimoto (Boy #15). But...

"Take a look at this thing." The voice came from his right, behind a stack of abandoned trash bags. A hand flew up from underneath the pile, gripping something square with all of its might.

"Who are you?" Shunpei gripped the tomahawk tightly.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten about Masa, have you? Or has the Program driven you mad already?"

Masaharu Akamine (Boy #1) had found this spot before Shunpei. Like Hiromi, Masaharu was one of the smartest in the class academically; unlike Hiromi, however, he was gullible, foolish, and somewhat of a klutz. He was also an avid member of the chess club, but was no good at playing the game.

Shunpei tried to avoid him as much as he could, but Masaharu was somehow convinced that Shunpei would be his best friend for life. So Masaharu was often following Shunpei around town, like an aimless fish blindly following its school. It annoyed his friends so much that Tai Sugiura (Boy #12) had demanded for Masaharu's removal from the group multiple times.

"A textbook?" Shunpei found that hard to believe, but then again he found a lot of things hard to believe. He wasn't really the type to trust easily. "And what's to say you didn't find this in that trash?"

"Yep! I swear, that's all they gave me! This Flux Dynamics textbook. Mr. Kenihara is a funny guy, huh?" Masaharu babbled on and on.

Kenihara… the one who was running this whole thing, the man who had imprisoned them in this hellhole. Frustration and rage surged through Shunpei's body at the mention of his proctor's name.

"Listen, Shun-kun. Why don't we work together? Dying with a friend might make us feel better about losing."

"Have you seriously already given up hope?" Shunpei raised an eyebrow. "Masaharu, I thought you were better than that."

"Look at us!" said Masaharu. "We're just two jokers with a weird axe and a physics book as weapons. And then look at people like Yamamoto, and Anzu, and Iyumi…"

"Yamamoto's just stuck-up, Iyumi's too paranoid, and Anzu's a recluse," replied Shunpei monotonously. "We don't need to worry about them. They'll probably end up self-destructing by themselves."

"But still, you never-"

Before Masaharu could continue, Shunpei shoved a hand over his mouth. Surprise flashed in Masaharu's face; in response, Shunpei gestured outside, where Chika Mizushima nervously darted by.

Ten seconds passed. Chika's footsteps faded into the distance.

Shunpei felt a little guilty for never talking to her in class. Maybe, even in his paranoid, irrational mindset, he would've been able to push away his suspicions and talk to Chika, maybe ask if she wanted to work with him.

But anyone could be a threat now. Shunpei had seen some past Programs, and the quiet kids often ended up being the most deadly ones.

Shunpei sighed and turned his thoughts to his other problem.

Dealing with Masaharu always took a toll on his mental state, but… he had more pressing things to worry about, such as his life. In this kind of game, a second pair of eyes would be indispensable, even if it was a twit like Masaharu.

"Fine." Shunpei nodded purposefully. "If we're gonna work together, then we should find somewhere safer than this alleyway, don't you think?"

"I have an idea!" Masaharu's eyes lit up. "Why don't we try and find a supermarket, or a convenience store or something?"

"Everyone will be there, though!" replied Shunpei. "Anyone in their right mind would try to find more supplies, and stores are the best place to go. If we're gonna go there, we should be prepared for a fight."

"Look on the bright side!" countered Masaharu. "We might find friends!"

"Or enemies."

"You're such a pessimist, Shun-kun."

Masaharu and his mood swings… just a moment ago, he was ranting about how they were going to lose. And now he's saying "look on the bright side" and "you're a pessimist"? Jeez… talk about a change of heart.

"Let's just go already. We wouldn't want someone to accidentally stumble upon us, right?"

"Right, Shun-kun!" Masaharu grinned. "Good thing we were given these maps! They're awfully handy, don't you think?"

"Don't get too comfortable, Masaharu," muttered Shunpei. "We could be ambushed at any time. And please stop calling me that, will you?"

"Fine, fine. Just trying to be friendly," murmured Masaharu. "Might as well, since we'll probably be dead by tomorrow."

"Masaharu… you're so indecisive." Optimistic one moment, and pessimistic the rest… in Shunpei's eyes, Masaharu was always unpredictable.

With those words, an unlikely friendship became the first alliance in the game.

•••

 _Elapsed Time: 0:01:42_

Yukina Yanagi (Girl #20) froze in place at the sound of the voice.

As the third-to-last one to leave the school, Yukina rushed to get as far away as possible. Paranoia - the possibility that one of her classmates would ambush her - overcame logical thought as the minutes passed. Her footsteps echoed in the empty city as she ran; she ran without purpose, without meaning. Anything to get away from everything.

She had no idea how much time had passed. It was still dark; the sky hadn't changed since she left the starting area. She had just stopped to take a breather when she heard the voice.

"Who are you? Where are you?" Yukina's hand unconsciously tightened around her issued weapon - a wooden baseball bat. "Show yourself!"

"Calm down, you stupid plebeian. It's just me!" A shadowy boy darted out of the alleyway; strangely enough, he seemed to have no weapon.

It was Shan Kobayashi (Boy #6). Shan was the diminutive son of Liu Kobayashi, the CEO of a prosperous robotics company in China. Being the spoiled Chinese boy he was, he apparently demanded to be taken for an "extended vacation" in Japan, immersing himself in the culture.

So for the past year, Yukina and the rest of the class had to deal with being treated as a "plebeian" by this short Chinese boy. Shan was practically universally hated by everyone in the class, except the other rich kids: Yamamoto Himura (Boy #15) and Mio Yazaki (Girl #19). The three of them apparently rented an entire retreat home for themselves over the summer… and then they wouldn't shut up about it afterwards.

Yukina honestly didn't expect Shan to survive past the first six hours. The Program was a great opportunity to take revenge for any grudges from the past, and there were a lot of people who had a bone to pick with Shan.

She, of course, had a grudge of her own to satisfy… but that's a story for another time.

"Are you ignoring me? I'm going to kill you, you know!" Shan's fingers probed his right pocket. "So get ready!"

"The class dwarf's gonna attack me with his baby-hands?" Confidence suddenly flowed through Yukina's body. She could take on Shan. Shan was a spoiled weakling, after all. He couldn't hurt her… right?

"What did you just call me!?" Rage filled Shan's eyes, igniting them with a burning hatred. He lunged forwards, charging head-on at Yukina without abandon.

 _This guy's got guts, that's for sure. Attacking me head-on with no weapon…_

Yukina raised her baseball bat, swinging it at Shan's head as if it was a baseball. Shan twirled to the side, side-stepping behind the girl and restraining her other arm. Yukina tried to twist around and hit him, but she felt a slight sting in her neck.

 _That's not a knife. If it were a knife or a spear or something, it would feel much more painful._

Shan smirked. "How ya feeling, you plebeian? Dead yet?"

But Yukina could barely hear him. All of the energy and confidence in her body had suddenly dissipated in the air, replaced with an overwhelming urge for sleep. She tried to fight it, but the urge fell over her like a tidal wave, swallowing her whole.

 _A… a syringe…? Is that… poison? Am I dying already? And at the hands of Shan, too… talk about a humiliating end…_

The girl's mind went blank; all logical thought dissolved into nothingness, and her body crumpled lifelessly to the ground. Shan fist-pumped, a self-satisfied smirk plastered onto his face as he slid the syringe back into his pocket.

"Oooh yeah. I just got the first kill. You see that? You see that?"

In reality, Shan Kobayashi wasn't a bad person necessarily. He was just a bit of an attention-seeker, and that type of person is often quite annoying to the people around him.

Within the first few steps outside of the Program's starting area, Shan decided that he would participate. He wanted to fight in the Program solely because he wanted a TV show about himself. He wanted there to be a TV show that revolved around him doing awesome things… like maybe killing people in awesome ninja ways, like he just killed Yukina.

 _That was such a badass first kill. I'm such a freakin' ninja. Kenihara must've known it too. That's why he gave me all of those poison syringes._

Though in reality, that wasn't the true reason Shan decided to fight. He had another reason buried in his heart… though in his apparent moment of glory, he completely forgot about it.

"They better make a movie out of this season. _Battle Royale, featuring the Merciless Badass Shan Kobayashi._ That has a nice ring to it. Yeah, that's it. Watch out, 'cause _Merciless Badass Shan Kobayashi_ is hunting to kill!"

If only he realized that he was just making himself look like a fool on live television, in front of the entire Japanese public.

•••

 _Elapsed Time: 0:02:00_

Chisa Tokimura (Girl #10) was sprawled out on a building rooftop, staring aimlessly into space. Silence echoed all around her, putting her at ease despite her precarious circumstances.

Judging by the sky, it was around 2 AM or so. Chisa casually checked her watch to confirm this. She had been studying astronomy since she was little, but it never hurt to double-check to see if you made a mistake.

The watch was outfitted with a stopwatch function as well, which was recording the amount of time that had passed since the Program's start. Chisa found it a bit odd that they'd start the Program at exactly midnight, but she shrugged it off. That was probably unimportant, after all… they probably just wanted to make it a convenient time.

Chisa had spent countless hours staring at the stars. She would often lie outside, thinking about her life and how it was going. How it could be better, and what could've gone worse.

Well, nothing could've gone worse than this.

"Ch-Chisa?"

Chisa darted up, her hand flying to her issued weapon - a multi-tool of some kind with a small blade. Her head swiveled around to glance at the newcomer.

"Rei?"

Standing on the rooftop beside her was Rei Hagane (Girl #12). Rei was infamous for being quiet to the extreme. Chisa had never heard her speak more than nine words. Because she never spoke, nobody in the class knew her that well. Chisa had tried to interact with her a couple times, but she had just responded with vague one-word answers to her questions.

"Ah, so it really is you. At first, I thought I was hallucinating." muttered Rei.

Thirteen words - that was the first sign that something was wrong. A jolt of fear slid through her body.

"Hallucinating?" Chisa suddenly found that her arms were trembling. "W-why?"

"Stress from this whole thing?" Rei raised an eyebrow nonchalantly - the most emotion that Chisa had ever seen her express. "You understand, right?"

But Chisa wasn't listening to her anymore. She was staring silently at Rei's hands. She had never noticed this before, but there was a small scar on the Rei's right finger - the finger that was on the trigger.

Completely unsure how to react, Chisa could do nothing but stare at the nailgun nestled snugly in Rei's right hand, its muzzle pointed straight at her head.

 **42 Students Remaining**


	3. Cause and Effect

_Day 1_

 _Elapsed Time: 0:02:02_

It took about four seconds for (Girl #10) Chisa Tokimura to register the fact that Rei Hagane (Girl #12) was pointing a nailgun at her heart. Rei Hagane, the quiet girl who seemed so passive she would never hurt a fly.

Like usual, Rei's face was completely devoid of emotion. It was as if sitting in class staring into space and pointing a weapon at a classmate were equally interesting things to her.

"R-Rei…" Chisa's voice was barely audible. "You're… you're playing?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Rei didn't blink, her blue eyes piercing through Chisa's body. "It's the logical thing to do."

"So Rei… your mind operates on logic? Is that what's been going on in your head this entire time?" Chisa stared up at her classmate, wondering about all of the times she had seen Rei staring at the teacher with a look of total apathy on her face. Thanks to this almost-glazed look, there had been multiple instances of rumors about her being a drug addict of some kind.

"Somewhat," murmured Rei. "I felt that it would detract from my personal intellectual gains to interact with anyone else in the class, so I didn't talk to anyone. That's why I rejected your multiple attempts to create a friendship between us."

"You're… you're like a robot, then?" muttered Chisa under her breath. She was deliberately trying to stall Rei, or at least trying to find some way to shock her to her senses..

"No." Rei shook her head in an almost melancholy way. "Not at all… I'm only human. I still have wishes, dreams, and fears, like everyone else. I wished to move to Europe and begin studying abroad in college, and the logical way to do that now would be to win the Program."

"Rei…" Chisa could only stare as her classmate began to explain herself. The enigma that was Rei Hagane was unfolding in front of her eyes… she would've been overjoyed, had Rei not been pointing a nailgun at her. "Please explain this much to me. Why are you telling me this? Why not just kill me now?"

Rei fell silent for a moment before replying. "You… you were the only one who tried to get to know me better. You seemed to be the only one who cared… so I believe that you deserve to know about me… and that you deserve a fast, painless death."

"Rei, please stop and think about this!" Panic flooded through Chisa's body, and she cursed herself for being caught off guard. "We can get through this together-"

"Together?" For the first time since she had came to the school, Rei Hagane's face flared up with true emotions. Her eyes were ignited with a fiery bitterness that threatened to consume her whole. "That's what _he_ said. That's what they all said, before…"

"Who? Who said that? Rei, please talk to me." At this point, Chisa was just stalling for time. It was clear to her that Rei was serious and out to kill; she needed time to come up with a way to get around that nailgun and away from her. She didn't want to kill Rei, of course…

"My brother… he was a police officer." Rei's calm voice wavered for a moment, sending a chill through Chisa's entire body. "He went to investigate gang activities a couple years ago… he said that tomorrow we'd go shopping together… and then I came home and found his blood… his body smeared in front of my house…"

"Rei, I'm so sorry-"

"Ever since then, the very sight of blood has made my body freeze up," mutters Rei. "But I can't let that stop me now. I need to live on for his sake, to study in Europe and work in the government. I need to live on… and now you've become an obstacle in my way."

Rei's hands trembled with every word. Chisa stared down at the nailgun's trigger, noticing that her finger was twitching sporadically.

"Chisa, thank you." Rei's voice was almost inaudible. "And I'm sorry."

"Rei, no-"

Rei's finger slammed down on the trigger. Chisa froze in place, waiting for the nail to rip through her skin. The nail surged forwards in the gun at a lightning-fast pace before-

 _TIC._

It took about three seconds for Chisa to realize that she had not been shot. In fact, the nail was still nestled in the muzzle of the nailgun; however, it was just sticking out a little bit farther out. Rei stared down in confusion at her weapon, completely befuddled by what had just happened.

"Rei, please calm dow-"

 _ **BANG!**_

The gunshot snapped through the air, leaving silence in its wake. Chisa could only stare in shock as the class loner toppled off of the rooftop and fell lifelessly onto the sidewalk below.

•••

In the modern era, most guns have "safety" mechanisms that prevent an accidental discharge. Nailguns are no exception; most nailguns have a "catch" feature that obstructs the muzzle and prevents the nail from leaving the gun. Because of this, many people simply hold the trigger down and use the safety "catch" as a conventional trigger.

Unfortunately for Rei Hagane, she had never used a nailgun before in her life. She had absolutely no way of knowing this beforehand, and it led to her demise.

Chisa stared down at her lifeless body, her gaze fixated on the blood pouring out of the side of her head. Her entire body was trembling; her mind was racing about and all logical thought had disappeared.

 _No way… people are actually playing the game… no… this can't be…_

She was very lucky. Had the sniper really been playing the game, she would've been the Program's second kill.

•••

Yuusuke Shimizu (Boy #9) had received some kind of bolt action rifle in his pack. It was large and a bit unwieldy, but it had an adjustable-zoom scope and a suppressor as well. Yuusuke had practically no knowledge about firearms besides what he had seen in video games, so he assumed that it was some kind of long-range rifle.

He had not been planning to go along with the Program. His initial motivations were simple: to find Daisuke Matsushita (Boy #19) and Tobei Yamashita (Boy #20).

Daisuke was Yuusuke's role model; he was everything Yuusuke wanted to be, and everything Yuusuke was not. As such, Yuusuke viewed him as a sort of hero, though not to the level of religious worship. Yuusuke also knew that Daisuke already had a job in the video game industry, despite just being in school; as such, he naturally assumed that Daisuke was a talented programmer as well, and he himself had tried programming as well. Naturally, since he had just started, he was absolutely terrible.

Tobei was Daisuke's best friend, and one of his coworkers. While he was not as skilled as Daisuke, his cool attitude and relaxed aura always put Yuusuke at ease, removing all of the natural stress that comes when you're talking to someone you idolize. He had quirky speech patterns, often addressing others with a calm and easygoing "Hey". Yuusuke liked Tobei a lot, and he didn't want to see him die in something as unjust as the Program.

Yuusuke didn't want to risk waiting near the entrance for them; after all, anyone and everyone could be playing, and he didn't know who was a threat and who wasn't. The only thing he knew for certain was that Daisuke and Tobei could be trusted. So he decided that his best course of action would be to find an elevated spot in the city and search for Daisuke or Tobei with his bolt-action rifle's scope.

When he first exited the building, he spotted a skyscraper that towered over the entire city. It took about forty minutes to run over there, dash into the elevator and go to the roof. There, he set up his sniper rifle on the railing and and began to quietly search for Daisuke and Tobei with the scope.

The skyscraper was in zone C-2. Yuusuke noted to himself that he'd seriously kill himself if he forgot that he was in C-2 when it turned into a danger zone. Lightly chuckling, he thanked fate that his sense of humor was still intact, even if the joke was terribly morbid.

He was able to quickly locate the school, just as Yukina Yanagi (Girl #20) stepped out into the open. Silently cursing himself for missing both Daisuke and Tobei's exits from the school, he sighed and began to scan the surveying city.

About an hour into the Program, he spotted a scene in a faraway street; two figures were talking. He could identify one of them as Shan Kobayashi (Boy #6), the spoiled child of the corporate executive. As he observed the scene, he saw Shan lunge at the other figure with some kind of thin object. Soon after, the other person collapsed onto the ground.

Yuusuke was tempted to shoot Shan there and then. But it was still early in the game; his moral compass was still mostly stable, and he realized very well that shooting would mean ending someone's life. He'd have to live with that for the rest of his life - no matter how short it would be.

Knowing Shan, he'd probably get himself killed soon anyway. Yuusuke suspected that most people were only playing in self-defense, and an idiot like Shan would probably charge blindly at someone and then get shot. He was pretty sure that most of the class were mentally stable… but then again, this is Battle Royale, and anything can happen.

Within the twenty minutes that passed after the scene with Shan, Yuusuke turned around from the ledge and began to contemplate his choices. Should he be shooting people or not? How much will it affect his own psychological state? Would he still be stable enough for Daisuke and Tobei to trust him?

 _What if he accidentally shot Daisuke or Tobei?_

However, as time passed, Yuusuke began to regret not shooting Shan more and more. Eventually, he came to one conclusion: he would only shoot if he could clearly identify the target and they were clearly playing the game. That way, he would be able to eliminate dangerous opponents that could harm Daisuke or Tobei, and nobody more.

As he began to look through his scope again, he noticed another encounter. Conveniently enough, this one was more close by; he could identify both of the two girls as Chisa Tokimura and Rei Hagane. Judging by the nailgun in Rei's hands and how she was pointing it at Chisa, Yuusuke was able to deduce that yes, Rei was playing.

Rei Hagane was an enigma in Yuusuke's head. There were so many unknowns that made her impossible to predict, impossible to analyze. Yuusuke, being human, decided to assume the very worst possible scenario: Rei was one of the biggest threats in the game, and she had held up her antisocial attitude in case of a Program. She probably knew that emotional attachment could be the worst type of anchor in this scenario.

Yuusuke had no emotional attachment to Rei whatsoever. At this point, had no qualms about killing someone he didn't know anything about besides her name, at least if it was to protect Daisuke and Tobei.

So he acted.

Despite being suppressed, the gun was still fairly loud from nearby. Yuusuke didn't expect any of the knockback, either; it blew him backwards and off of his sniping ledge. Nonetheless, once he recovered, he used his scope to zoom in on his shot.

Before, Rei was standing on the roof of another building; now, she was lying face-down on the sidewalk. Yuusuke could immediately tell that she was gone for good. He felt a bit remorseful for ending her life, but pushed the thought away with reassuring statements that justified his actions, at least in his eyes.

 _I did this for their sakes. It was for Daisuke and Tobei. Otherwise, Rei might have killed either or both of them. I had to._

 _And I'm more than willing to eliminate anyone else who could threaten either of their lives._

 _Daisuke… Tobei… They would understand. Of course they would understand. They would see that I was just trying to protect them._

As Yuusuke piled justification after justification over the regret, his moral compass began to twist and mangle itself out of shape until it was no longer recognizable. Within thirty minutes, he found himself ready to do _anything_ to protect Daisuke and Tobei.

•••

As luck would have it, Shunpei Furuya (Boy #18) and Masaharu Akamine (Boy #1) had been nearby when Yuusuke Shimizu fired his gun.

"Was that a gunshot?" Masaharu froze in place. "Is there some kind of gunfight going-"

Shunpei cut him off, pulling him into the building nearby - a convenience store.

"Quiet down, Masaharu," he hissed. "It could be a sniper."

"Or it could just be a stray shot from a pistol." Masaharu lifted his textbook in the air. "Or it could be a warning shot. You never know."

"That's why you need to plan for the worst-case scenario." Tomahawk at the ready, Shunpei warily scanned the empty store. Most of its contents were still in place; stacks of chip bags, onigiri, and other assorted goodies were still neatly organized on the shelves. "Masaharu, let's check to see if anyone else is here."

"Good idea." Masaharu glanced around. "What if I find someone?"

"If they're playing, give me a shout and try and whack 'em with that doorstopper of yours," said Shunpei apathetically. "Otherwise, try and negotiate. Don't kill unless your own life is threatened-"

"You don't need to worry. This building _was_ clear, at least until you arrived." A voice interrupted both of their conversations.

Masaharu swiveled around. "Wha-"

Shunpei didn't give him a chance to finish. He pulled the boy down into the aisle, hoping to find at least some cover in the shelves.

"Calm down, calm down! I'm not playing." A head popped out from behind the counter, followed by the muzzle of a revolver.

"That'd be a lot more convincing if you weren't POINTING A GUN AT MY HEART!" retorted Shunpei sharply.

A moment passed before the figure tossed the revolver onto the ground and stepped into the light with their arms up. It was Toshimi Mitoratsu (Girl #17). Shunpei saw Toshimi as one of the "overly friendly" types who tried too hard to befriend everyone. Masaharu, on the other hand, saw Toshimi as one of the most welcoming and kind people in the class. He couldn't imagine her hurting a fly, not to mention killing a classmate.

Almost immediately, Masaharu relaxed. "It's just Toshimi! We're safe here, for now at least."

"What are you talking about?" Shunpei glared at him. "The Program changes people, you know that! She might be-"

"Shunpei, you're such a worrier," interrupted Toshimi. "First of all, I already threw my weapon down. Second of all, if I really was playing, I could've shot the both of you the minute you got into the building. Convincing enough for you?"

Shunpei shut up abruptly. Toshimi did have a point… though since he was never that close to her, he didn't feel like she could be completely trusted.

On the other hand, she DID have a gun, and the two of them didn't.

"So, what brings you here?" she asked. "Besides, you know, the Program and all?"

"Oh, I don't know." Shunpei muttered with a touch of hostility. "Maybe, you know, running for our lives before someone loses it psychologically?"

"Shun-kun, be nice!" Masaharu whacked him on the shoulder with his textbook. "She's a friend!"

Shunpei sighed. "Fine then. So, Toshimi, was there anyone else here?"

Toshimi shook her head. "I haven't seen anyone since I left the school. When I saw this place, I realized that grabbing some food for the road couldn't hurt. I was just checking to see if there was anything else I could scavenge before you two came in."

"Interesting," muttered Shunpei.

"Shun-kun and I met up early in the game, and we just started kind of wandering around," said Masaharu. "We heard the sound of a gun firing, and Shun-kun here got paranoid and thought that it was a sniper."

"It probably was a sniper!" retorted Shunpei harshly.

"It was probably just a warning shot from a pistol," replied Masaharu.

"Either way, I don't think we need to worry about that now," said Toshimi. "We're inside a building, after all. There's only one entrance we need to worry about."

"So, Toshimi, what do you suggest we do now?" Shunpei raised an eyebrow.

"If possible, we wait until sunrise," she replied. "While darkness can provide cover, it also makes it very easy to stage an ambush. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if one of our classmates had already been ambushed by someone else in the dark."

"Good idea!" Masaharu grinned and picked up a rice ball. "Might as well stock up on food, too…"

"You sure?" Shunpei glanced over at his ally. "You never know when you need space in your pack, and that doorstopper is going to take up a lot of space."

"It'll be fine!" reassured Masaharu. "Right, Toshimi?"

Toshimi shrugged. "Yeah, I think so. Don't worry about it. Besides, more food can never hurt."

 _Unless Masaharu, being the idiot that he is, gets himself killed, and the killer takes all of his food._

Shunpei sighed. Not like those two would listen to him anyways…

"It'll be quite a while before sunrise…" Masaharu scanned the shop again. "Is there a deck of cards or something around here?"

"Dunno, but we can look in the employees' room," replied Toshimi.

As the two casually chatted away, Shunpei found himself staring off into the street. While it was completely devoid of others, he couldn't help but stare at the miniature skyscraper in the distance, and the teeny muzzle that was poking out from the top.

•••

 _Elapsed Time: 0:02:08_

There were two transfer students in Class 3-B. One of them was Shan Kobayashi, the spoiled son of the Chinese corporate executive. Then there was the second one; the Taiwanese boy Johnson Hsiung (Boy #7).

Johnson had obtained one of the most unusual "weapons" in this year's Program. When he received his bag, he had been shocked to see that it was warm and wriggling about. Immediately after he had left the school, he opened up his bag to see a cream-colored mass of fur.

Sitting inside his bag was his Shiba Inu, Cookie. Johnson had taken Cookie to Japan with him as a travelling companion, and the dog had been his best friend since they were toddlers.

The Shiba Inu is not an easy breed to train. But Johnson and Cookie had a special bond; it was like they were soulmates. Cookie always seemed to know what Johnson was thinking, and what he needed. He would obey Johnson's every order, like an obsequious servant. Johnson was the same; he would do anything for the Shiba Inu.

Cookie was loyal, devoted, and quite possessive of his partner. Anything that seemed like a threat to Johnson was immediately chased off. Like a vigilant ninja protecting his prey, he was swift, nimble, alert, and quiet. Hopefully, he'd be quite the asset… though Johnson felt terribly guilty for dragging him into the bloodbath. Though it wasn't his choice to bring Cookie into the Battle Royale, he knew that had he not participated, Cookie would still be safe at home sleeping in his warm bed.

If anything, Cookie deserved to live even more than he did. But that's a story for another time.

•••

"Hey. Hsiung, wasn't it?"

A voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He had been skulking in the dark for quite a while; he had run into someone about an hour before, but was unable to identify his pursuer. Panicking, he had grabbed Cookie and raced off as fast as he could.

"Yeah, you. Hey."

Johnson glanced over at the apartment building next to him. Checking his map, he deduced that he should be in sector A-7, next to the apartment complex.

"Calm down, Hsiung. I'm not playing, and it looks like you're not either."

Johnson looked up at the apartment's second floor window, where a familiar face waved at him. It was Tobei Yamashita (Boy #20).

"Are you alone?" asked Johnson.

"No, I've got a couple others with me. Hayate, Tai, and Kyon," said Tobei. "Hang on, I'll open the door for you."

He disappeared from the window, leaving Johnson alone in the cold for a moment. At first, he suspected that Tobei would take whatever weapon he had and attack him; however, he pushed the thought aside. Tobei was cool and calm, but he wasn't a liar.

The door swung open, and Tobei extended an arm out. "Hey. Come on in."

Nodding hesitantly, Johnson warily stepped into the apartment complex. As he followed Tobei up the stairs, he wondered once again if he was walking into a trap.

In the Program, people can change drastically fast. The real challenge is knowing when someone you considered a friend warps into a cold-blooded murderer waiting for an opportunity to stab you in the back.

 **Girl # 12 Rei Hagane - Dead**

 **41 Students Remaining**


	4. Inseparable

_Day 1_

 _Elapsed Time: 0:02:10_

As one may notice when reading the student list, there were two sets of twins in Class 3-B. There were the Emotions and Logic duo, also known as the Sugawa twins Mitsu (Boy #11) and Kyon (Boy #10), and the Tendo twins, Megumi (Girl #9) and Sherman (Boy #14).

In a way, you could also count Masao "Boss" Ezawa (Boy #3) and Hotaru "Ryu" Fukuda (Boy #17). The duo had been an inseparable pair since they were toddlers; they lived very close to each other, and their lives began to entangle together as they grew older. It was Masao who came up with the nickname "Ryu", after Hotaru expressed his dissatisfaction with the ambiguous gender of his name. In response, Ryu gave Masao his own nickname, "Boss".

Despite being best friends, the two were actually very different. Boss was a jokester who loved to play pranks. He was the faster of the two, and he had better reflexes and agility. Ryu, on the other hand, was the serious, concentrated one. One of the most physically powerful people in Class 3-B, he had the mental discipline to shrug off at least some pain and the determination to reach any goal he set.

Not even the paranoid psychology of the Program could tear them apart. After exiting the school, Boss had loitered around the area, holding out until his partner came out. His weapon was a wooden staff of some kind; at its tip was a pine cone.

 _A prank weapon for a prankster like me, huh? I guess that's clever._

Boss was Boy#3, so he had a little while to wait before Ryu exited the school. He scampered onto a hill overlooking the school and hid behind a bush. There, he watched patiently as Mayumi Ooshima (Girl #3) and Ryuuta Okamura (Boy #4) exited the building. Mayumi's bag looked on the heavier side; she was having some trouble carrying it. Ryuuta, too, had a heavy bag; unlike Mayumi, however, he was handling it with ease. Boss believed that Ryuuta wasn't particularly strong, so he assumed that he had gotten a light but bulky gag weapon.

Boredom began to bounce around in his head as he waited. He quietly scratched at his staff as Rei Hagane (Girl #12) robotically exited the building and scampered out of sight. For a while, he legitimately started to consider attacking some people, notably the stuck-up rich kid Yamamoto Himura (Boy #16). But when Yamamoto finally exited the school, Boss held himself back. He knew that Yamamoto could probably overpower him, and he was in no place to do anything with his joke weapon.

Natsumi Mikami (Girl #16) exited the building, glanced at Boss, and ran off, and five minutes later was followed by the familiar face of his best friend. Boss rushed out of his hiding place and caught up with him, taking him by surprise. Ryu's hands instinctively shot towards his bag, but he stopped himself when he identified his pursuer.

"Boss, nice to see you're all good."

"You as well, man."

The two of them fist-bumped and started wandering through the city. Ryu felt that it would be a good idea to find a place to stay until daylight, so they began searching through the city streets for somewhere hospitable. They finally settled down in a residential district in E-8, where Boss slid into an open window and unlocked the house from the inside. After securing the entire home, the duo sat down and took a breather.

"Hey, Ryu?"

"What's up?" Ryu turned to him.

"What did you get for a weapon?" Boss twirled his staff around.

"Me? Oh, I haven't checked actually." Ryu neatly opened up his bag, pulling out a dark gray sliver of metal. In his hand was some kind of pistol, a small, dark gun with a snug feel. "Nice."

"Wanna try it?" Boss looked at the gun. "Fire off a couple shots into the air, you know, or maybe shoot a wall?"

"Why?" Ryu raised an eyebrow. "Then people will know we're here, right?"

"What's the point in using a weapon without getting used to it?" said Boss. "Besides, we won't be able to defend ourselves with _this_." He held up the pine cone staff.

"True enough," replied Ryu. "But I'd rather not give away our position. Why don't we take a look around? People have all sorts of things in their houses these days, we can probably find something that could be of use."

So they took a look around. After thirty minutes, they had gathered a pile of possibly useful household items and a broken rusty pipe from outside. Boss slid the kitchen's knives into his bag, and Ryu discovered a couple boxes of matches that he kept for later.

They reunited once more in the living room, laying their findings on the ground. It was still dark out, and they didn't want anyone to see them, so it was almost pitch-black. Only the gleam of the flashlights marked their presence.

"Better than nothing," said Ryu. "That's a lot of food, though. How much food did these people have?"

"Who knows man, who knows." Boss picked a bottle of Epoxy glue off of the ground and began to squirt some onto one of the kitchen knives. "But it'll last us until the end of the Program, that's for sure."

Ryu glanced down at the glue. "Bayonet?"

"More like knife-on-a-stick, or maybe a mini-spear or something." Boss gently pushed the knife against the Epoxy glue on the rusty pipe, so that its sharp end was protruding out like a bayonet.

Silence flowed over them for a moment.

"Boss." Ryu put a hand on his shoulder.

"What's up?" Boss glanced up. Even in the darkness, he could feel that Ryu was troubled by something. "Something bothering you?"

"What are we going to do?" he muttered softly. "Even if we somehow make it through this alive… there's still two of us left."

"Let's hope that someone comes up with an escape plan at that point," replied Boss. "Then we can go home, and then I'll finally figure out how to beat you in _Super Smash Bros_."

Everyone in Class 3-B knew that Boss and Ryu were serious video game nerds. The duo dueled each other frequently, each trying to get just the slightest edge over the other. Ryu was mysteriously able to stay on top most of the time, despite having less time due to strength and conditioning stuff.

"Come and see if you have the skill," replied Ryu jokingly.

Boss glanced out the house's back window. "Hey."

"What's up?" Ryu raised his pistol, alarmed by his best friend's sudden seriousness. "What is it? Is someone here?"

"No, it's not that." Boss pointed out the window. "I didn't think they actually fenced off the entire prefecture, though…"

"Are we really that close to the border?" Ryu opened up his map, glancing at E-8.

"I guess so. Considering how the school was in D-4, that's a decent distance for our time," replied Boss. "Judging by its looks, however, it's an electric fence."

Had the duo continued to examine the fence, they would've noticed the armed guard in the watch tower nearby. The guard had a set of night vision goggles, so hiding in the shadows would not be an option.

Ryu began to walk up the stairs.

"Taking a look around?" asked Boss.

"Just checking if anyone else is nearby." Ryu glanced out the second-story window into the dim light of the very-early morning. It was still around 2 AM, but the street lights partially illuminated the road below.

"See, no one's around," said Boss. "Now why don't you try that weapon? If it recoils more than you expected and flies out of your hands, it's no good, is it?"

"You do have a point there, I guess." Ryu shoved ammunition into the gun and slid his finger around it. The dark metal fit snugly in his hand, and it was actually fairly comfortable. Feeling more confident, he pointed it at the nearby dresser and tried to fire it.

The trigger didn't budge.

"Is the safety off?" Boss tilted his head to the side.

"Oh." Ryu face-palmed with his free hand, and then de-activated the safety.

"You know, Ryu, sometimes you do act like a dumb brute, right?"

"Just like how you act like an immature little kid." Ryu chuckled. "That stupid prank you pulled on Mio almost made her blow a fuse."

About a month ago, Boss had flooded Mio Yazaki's (Girl #19) locker with an unidentified purple slime-like substance. The rich girl had gone ballistic, smashing and screaming like a crazed animal. Being one of the only troublemakers in the class, her fury began to rip and slash towards Boss. She began to spread rumors about him, about how he apparently vandalized the government building.

In this Japan, vandalizing a government building was basically a death sentence. It was only thanks to hasty action from Ryu that the rumors died down. He used his large frame and physical prowess in an attempt to intimidate Mio, trying to pressure her into admitting it was false. In response, Mio sent her bodyguard after him.

Ryu was actually quite clever when it came to dealing with opponents. He noticed the suit-clad man following him almost immediately after, and discreetly contacted the local police on the reasoning that someone was stalking him. The bodyguard was promptly arrested and never heard from again.

"If I get the chance, I am so going to give her what she really deserves," muttered Boss. He had always held a personal grudge against anyone who tried to hurt Ryu, which included Shan Kobayashi (Boy #6), Kyoya Tsunemura (Boy #13), and Iyumi Kawamoto (Girl #5). Despite being the smaller and weaker one, he was more protective of Ryu than Ryu was of him. Ryu knew that despite his jokester attitude Boss had a good head on his shoulders, so he trusted him a bit more.

"Don't get too bloodthirsty. I don't want you going insane on me." Ryu turned towards the dresser and pulled the trigger.

 _BANG!_

The gun jolted in Ryu's steady hand, piercing through the wall and leaving a neat hole. Almost immediately, silence flowed over the entire house.

" _Someone else is here!"_

" _What was that?"_

" _Did someone just-"_

Boss was about to open his mouth, but Ryu lunged forwards and shushed him with his palm. The two locked eyes.

 _We got careless. We must've left something open, and now others are inside._

•••

 _Elapsed Time: 0:02:13_

Johnson Hsiung (Boy #7) opened the door to the apartment complex in A-7, following Tobei Yamashita (Boy #20) into the room. Sitting around the kitchen table were three other boys: Hayate Kamiya (Boy #5), Kyon Sugawa (Boy #10), and Tai Sugiura (Boy #12).

The sight of the four of them together almost made Johnson laugh out loud. Hayate was an avid fencer; he practiced his sword skills day and night, transforming him into a quick mover and an even quicker thinker. Kyon was logical, systematic, and an expert mathematician. He was good enough to be professionally competing in national math competitions; he had been the runner-up last year and the year before. This year, he had practiced extra to ensure his success, but was drafted into the Program before his efforts could pay off.

Then there was Tobei, of course; the relaxed, calm guy whose trademark "Hey." was well-known by everyone. He had a knack for getting people to relax around him, so he was good friends with a lot of people.

Tai, on the other hand, was sneaky. Cunning, conniving, and stealthy, he was an expert at stealing, breaking, and entering. It was well-known that he was a criminal, but despite this he had never been arrested. He was also part of a gang led by Kyoichi Itsuka (Boy #2), and was one of Itsuka's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Mainly, though, he acted as the team's designated "ninja".

Seeing the four of them together was a funny sight to Johnson. Normally, these four probably would never have interacted. But the Program brought them together in one of the most unlikely alliances.

"Hey." Tobei raised an eyebrow. "Johnson's here. He's not playing."

"Huh." Tai picked up a butterfly knife off the table and began to flick it around. "Yo."

"Hi…" Johnson murmured warily. He didn't trust Tai one bit, and found it interesting how Hayate and Kyon didn't seem to care. Hayate was glowering in the apartment's armchair, while Kyon was staring down at his bag.

"Don't mind Hayate," said Tobei, gesturing to the sheathed blade on the table. "He's just upset because I got the katana."

"And I got a stinking fake katana!" lashed out Hayate. He held up his weapon for Johnson to see. It looked like a completely normal katana; the sheath was decorated delicately and the hilt was firm and solid. But Hayate ripped the sheath off of the hilt, revealing emptiness where the blade should have been.

"Talk about a gag weapon." Tai smirked, clearly enjoying his classmate's anguish. "That HAD to have been set up by Kenihara. No way he didn't do that on purpose."

"Agreed." added Kyon. "The likelihood of you receiving that weapon, out of the other 41 students, is enormously low. Either a miracle occurred, or Kenihara specifically gave you this weapon."

"W-wait, didn't they say that the weapons were randomly distributed?" protested Hayate. "Doesn't that make it unfair?"

"You never know, they could be lying to us," said Tobei. "Not that it matters now. Anyway. Johnson, make yourself comfortable for now. None of us are playing, and we're gonna hold out here for now."

"Hang on," said Johnson. "What weapons did you guys get? I know Hayate got the fake katana and Tobei got the real katana, but what about the rest of you?"

"I got these." Kyon held up four dormant land mines.

"I got this baby." Tai tossed the butterfly knife into the air with ease and caught it in mid-air. "Perfect for me."

"Well… I got my dog." Johnson picked Cookie off the ground and nestled him in his arms. The Shiba Inu's gaze travelled around the room, looking at each of the occupants warily.

"Whoa, they gave you a DOG?" Hayate shouted.

"Quiet." lectured Kyon. "You never know how soundproof these walls are."

"Yeah, yeah." Hayate rolled his eyes. "But a _dog_?"

"Hey. Johnson." said Tobei. "Is that Cookie?"

Johnson had spoken extremely highly of Cookie in the past, though most of the other students in Class 3-B had never seen the Shiba Inu.

"Actually, yes, he is." Johnson walked over to Tobei. "Wanna pet him?"

Tobei ran his fingers through the Shiba's cream-colored fur. "That's a funny 'weapon' for them to give you."

"Excuse me," said Kyon. "Who did we put on guard duty?"

"Hayate," muttered Tai.

"But-" protested Hayate. "Tai, didn't you say you were gonna do it?"

"Didn't **you** suggest that we keep a lookout, Hayate?" continued Tai. "You gotta pull your weight if you want to stick around. Would you prefer it if I kicked you out into the streets, away from the rest of us? Johnson could probably replace you."

Hayate shot Tai a dirty look and picked up his fake katana. "Fine."

•••

Elapsed Time: 0:02:14

At the sound of the voices, Boss nodded, picked up his rusty pipe, and turned off his flashlight. Ryu too brandished his weapon and turned off the lights. The two of them hid in the upstairs bedroom, quietly listening for footsteps or signs of life.

"What do we do if they find us?" whispered Boss.

"Try and figure out if they're playing. If they are, we knock 'em out and get out of here." hissed Ryu. "Senseless killing is pointless."

"True enough." whispered Boss.

Footsteps. Someone was walking up the stairs.

" _I'll check upstairs. Whoever it is might be up there."_

It was a female voice. In the tension of the moment, neither of the two could identify who it was. When she opened the door, it let out a screech.

There was enough light in the room for Ryu to see who it was. It was Ren Aikawa (Girl #1), and she was holding some kind of handheld device in her right hand. She appeared to have no other weapon besides that.

Ren was the vice president of the student council. She was also the most popular girl in the third-year class, and was widely considered to be one of the most attractive as well. Physically, she looked at least three years older than she actually was. It was common knowledge that Ren had more admirers than any other girl in Class 3-B, not to mention friends. She was a social butterfly, being somehow able to befriend pretty much everyone she came across.

This also meant that she was probably travelling with others.

"Ren. Don't move or make noise, or I'll shoot." Ryu chose this moment to step forwards, pointing the muzzle of his gun at her chest. "I'm not going to hurt you unless you hurt me."

Most people, when faced with a classmate holding a gun, would've at least shown some outside signs of nervousness. On the contrary, Ren didn't falter. One of her most distinguishing traits was her ability to think under pressure. It was a skill she shared with Ryu, though he personally believed that he was better at it than she was.

"Who are you?" murmured Ren quietly.

"Boss and Ryu." replied Ryu matter-of-factly. "Are you playing? Is there anyone else with you? We heard others downstairs."

"I'm not playing, and I'm in a group with Nanae and Chika." replied Ren. "I promise I will not hurt you. Please put the gun down."

"I don't trust you." Ryu's eyes narrowed. Ren had people skills; naturally, that meant that she would be a skilled liar as well. "What are their weapons?"

"Ryu, calm down." Boss put a hand on his friend's wrist. "She said she's not playing. And you were the one who said senseless killing was pointless, remember? It's Ren! She can be trusted, don't you think?"

Boss was saying this for two reasons. The first one was because he was one of Ren's admirers as well. The second was because he knew Ren better than Ryu did; he knew that she was a very caring friend who always looked out for the people she cared about. In his mind, if she was playing, she wouldn't be with a group.

"This is the Program!" replied Ryu. "You never know. People change!"

"Ryu, have some trust!" Boss tugged on his arm. "What's the point in this? Why are you trying to extract information from her like this? We already know she's not playing!"

"Circumstances change," muttered Ryu bitterly. "The Program's psychology changes people. I know that second-hand."

Ryu's older brother Toshirou Fukuda had been selected into the Battle Royale three years prior. Within a few hours, the loving, kind, and supportive Toshirou transformed into an unstable, bloodthirsty killer who massacred seven of his classmates before being shot in the head. His brother's drastic change was displayed for the entire Fukuda family to witness on live television, and it had left Ryu scarred permanently. Boss silently cursed himself for not being more sensitive.

"Ryu, I understand how you feel," said Boss. "But this is Ren. I know her, and I know she wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Like I said, I promise I will not hurt you. My only 'weapon' is this tracking device." Ren spoke softly. "And Ryu… is this about your brother?"

At these words, Ryu froze in place. Almost nobody in Class 3-B seemed to notice that Toshirou had been in the Battle Royale. Boss, Tobei Yamashita, Daisuke Matsushita (Boy #19), and Anzu Fujikawa (Girl #15) were the only sympathetic ones; all the others just continued with their lives like nothing had happened. He tried his best not to hold a grudge, but he knew that he had always unconsciously disliked the others for not caring about Toshirou's terrible fate.

"You… you noticed?" murmured Ryu under his breath. "Did you…"

"He must've been a great brother," said Ren in a gentle, soothing voice. "I didn't know him, but I immediately noticed the change in your attitude. I just didn't say anything at the time. I'm so sorry for your loss."

"I…" Ryu's hand trembled, and his finger slid off the gun's trigger. Tears streamed down his face as memories of Toshirou filled his mind. "Thank you, Ren…"

Then those thoughts disappeared, replaced with a miniature explosion in his knee. Ryu screeched as the bullet pierced through his knee, and he slumped helplessly against the wall. Two more shots rang out, and two more bullets ripped through Ryu's chest.

"Don't you dare try to hurt Ren!" shouted someone in the hallway. Boss couldn't see who it was; he didn't care, either. The only thing he was thinking was revenge for Ryu's sake.

Ren, too, seemed surprised. She froze in place, a shocked expression replacing the empathy from before. Of course, Boss didn't notice this; he shoved Ren aside roughly, and the girl landed on the floor with a thud. Prying the pistol out of his fallen friend's hand, he unhesitatingly fired once, twice, thrice, four times into the darkness. Whoever was out there screamed; most likely, one of the shots had hit.

He kept firing until the pistol's entire magazine had been emptied. He ignored the spasms of the gun as it fired again and again, pushing back against his hand and leaving it sore. He could think of nothing but revenge, of bringing pain to the one who had shot his best friend.

"Boss! Stop!" He heard a voice coming from somewhere, probably Ren. "Stop! It's a misunderstanding!"

"RYU!" Boss tried to stand up, but suddenly found that he had been restrained. Ren had wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in an attempt to calm him down. Boss struggled a little bit, but eventually gave up.

His vision cleared, and the thoughts of vengeance were suddenly replaced with horror and grief. He glanced down at his best friend; the other boy was barely breathing.

"Boss-" Ryu's voice was barely audible. "I-"

His eyes slid shut, and the life in his body dissipated into the morning air. He was dead.

Ren flickered her flashlight on, shining it in the hallway.

"Boss…" she murmured, her voice weak. "It's… it's…"

Lying against the wall, clothes ridded with bullets and splotches of crimson, was the lifeless form of one of Ren's companions. It was the corpse of her most obedient follower, Nanae Uramen (Girl #2).

•••

Within the course of their friendship, Boss and Ryu only had a total of seven arguments and disagreements. The seventh one ultimately broke their friendship, ripping one of the two from the earth.

The paranoid psychology of the Program might've not affected their friendship and trust, but it did affect their trust in others… which resulted in the final separation of the inseparable duo.

 **Boy #17 Hotaru "Ryu" Fukuda - Dead**

 **Girl #2 Nanae Uramen - Dead**

 **39 Students Remaining**


	5. Equalizer

_Day 1_

 _Elapsed Time: 0:02:15_

A person's personality is one of their most important aspects. Personality plays a significant role in daily decisions, friendships and relationships, and methods for taking on problems. Of course, all of the students in Class 3-B were no exception to this. For example, Masao "Boss" Ezawa (Boy #3) valued his friendship with Hotaru "Ryu" Fukuda (Boy #17) more than anything else in the world; so, naturally, he immediately picked up the pistol and riddled his best friend's killer with bullets.

While it is difficult for anyone to truly have no personality, Ryu's killer Nanae Uramen (Girl #2) was the closest you could get. Even as a child, Nanae would have absolutely no opinions on anything whatsoever. She would only jump on the nearest bandwagon, agreeing with whatever the person next to her agreed to. That was how she lived her life; drifting aimlessly, going with whatever happened. Her life consisted entirely of following whatever her parents or friends were doing, and nothing more.

At least, until she met Ren Aikawa (Girl #1). Nanae wasn't perfect; she was pretty sure nobody was, but Ren threatened to prove her otherwise. Every time Nanae made a mistake, Ren was always there to help her up.

That was when Nanae realized that her aimless nature had left her devoid of personality. She was just a living prop at the end of the day, a hollow shell that would trudge forwards in whatever she needed to do. So she decided to give her life meaning by dedicating it to the one person she knew who was the farthest from hollow: Ren Aikawa.

Within the next couple years, Nanae basically became Ren's servant. She agreed with whatever Ren agreed with and supported her in anything and everything. To her, Ren's word was the equivalent of a divine order.

Nanae was Girl #2, meaning that she was the fourth one out of the school. Naturally, she immediately started trying to find Ren. After exiting the building, she immediately found herself in a stand-off with Kyoichi Itsuka (Boy #2). Both of them instantly froze in place once they saw each other. Kyoichi began to move his hand towards his bag, his eyes never leaving Nanae's.

But Nanae was faster. She ripped her bag open and tore out her weapon. It was some kind of pistol. Nanae had never used a gun before, so she couldn't identify it. But she was more than willing to use it; she didn't trust Kyoichi one bit. After all, Kyoichi was the leader of a gang, and those types of people were always the violent ones… right?

Without hesitating, Nanae pointed the pistol at Kyoichi and fired.

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

Nothing happened. Realizing that she had never loaded the weapon, Nanae face-palmed and glanced at her target.

Kyoichi had disappeared.

Confronted with the paranoia that he might be trying to ambush her, Nanae began to cautiously slink in the shadows. She made her way around the town, battling the suspicions and fear that wracked her entire body. It took her another hour and a half to find someone else: Chika Mizushima (Girl #18). Nanae knew that Chika was one of Ren's friends, so she immediately lowered her guard down and approached her. The two agreed to work together and try to find Ren after showing each other their weapons. Chika had received an eyedropper of some kind and a jar filled with liquid, but she was hesitant to use it since neither of them could tell what it was.

About fifteen minutes later, they stumbled into Ren. It was quite a challenge, actually; Ren was using her tracker to avoid everyone she could, and the duo had to approach her while she was resting in an abandoned restaurant in E-7. Ren was weary but grateful for their company, and all of Nanae's paranoia and suspicion dissipated into the air.

After scavenging from the restaurant, the trio began to head towards E-8, at about the same time Ryu Fukuda (Boy #17) and Boss Ezawa (Boy #3) started gathering materials in their house. Chika, being perceptive as she was, quickly noticed that a nearby house's back door was unlocked. They ultimately decided to camp out in the open house until daybreak, since outside they were vulnerable from too many angles.

The house was too quiet. There was a stack of materials in the living room, including a bunch of kitchen knives and some Epoxy glue. There was no trace of life.

"It almost looks like someone else was here," murmured Ren, her voice almost inaudible. "Stay on your guard."

These words spurred paranoia in Nanae once again. The thought of others hurting Ren was unbearable to her, and she was more than willing to fire upon her classmates if the need arose. Not wanting to repeat her past mistakes, she subtly checked to make sure her pistol was loaded - it was - and crept around the house, searching for life.

 ** _BANG!_**

A shot rang through the air.

"Someone else is here!" Chika jumped in surprise.

"What was that?" muttered Nanae, glancing around furiously. "Did someone just-"

It took a moment for her to realize it. Someone was here, and they probably were trying to assassinate Ren.

"The downstairs rooms are completely clear," hissed Chika under her breath. "So they must be upstairs."

"I'll check upstairs," murmured Ren, picking up a kitchen knife off the ground. "Whoever it is might be up there."

"But-" protested Nanae, but Ren was already gone. She didn't exactly understand Ren's motivations at the time, but she did realize that the popular girl was putting herself at risk for her and Reika.

She couldn't allow that. If Ren got hurt…

Without hesitating, Nanae stormed up the stairs. She froze at the top and almost toppled back down when she noticed the two shadows flanking Ren. One of them had a gun.

 _They're going to kill her, or worse-_

Now wasn't the time for thinking. For Nanae, this was the moment to prove to Ren exactly how much she meant to her. She raised the pistol and fired three times, and smiled in satisfaction as the taller figure slumped to the ground.

Then the shorter shadow did something confusing. Whoever it was pushed Ren to the side, like they were… protecting her?

 _Huh? But it's my role to protect Ren… why would she need protection from me? I'm just trying to save her from-_

Those thoughts were shattered by the bullets. They tore through her legs and chest, making her scream as the vortexes of pain seized her body. She dropped the pistol and crumpled to the ground, still trying to comprehend the entire situation.

 _Ren… I…_

Nanae Uramen had never really needed any other purpose in life. She had been completely satisfied with her devotion to Ren, unaware that there were better ways to live one's life. Unfortunately for her, she was never able to expand her mindset, even in death.

•••

 _Elapsed Time: 0:02:32_

Hayate Kamiya (Boy #5) re-entered the A-7 apartment complex, gripping the fake katana in his hands. Johnson Hsiung (Boy #7) and Tai Sugiura (Boy #12) glanced up, while Kyon Sugawa (Boy #10) nonchalantly continued typing on the smartphone in his hands and Tobei Yamashita (Boy #20) sunk deeper into the couch.

"I'm done, who's next on guard duty?" Hayate sighed. "Tai?"

"Nah, I'm good." Tai twirled his butterfly knife around his hands. "Why don't you just go out there again?"

"What? That's-" Hayate almost swung the fake katana at Tai, but stopped himself. "Tai, what are you trying to pull here?"

"I'm just trying to conserve my energy," replied Tai casually. "I'm probably the best fighter out of the five of us, so having no energy would be detrimental to the entire group."

"I do fencing and swordfighting in my spare time!" protested Hayate.

"Do you know how to throw knives?" Tai raised an eyebrow. "If I can hit you with a knife from far away, you'll never have a chance to get close and show your skills. You lack range."

"Hey." Tobei's voice cut everyone off. "Infighting will get us nowhere. I'll go on guard duty for now, okay? Why don't you guys take a nap or something, get yourselves rested up. If we run into someone who's seriously playing, it could be bad for us if we're tired no matter how skilled we are."

"Fair point." Tai rolled his eyes as Tobei left the room. The moment he was gone, he pulled Johnson over.

"Guys. I think Tobei's acting suspicious, so-"

"Why would he be acting suspicious?" retorted Hayate, placing the fake katana down next to the real one. "You're the one blaming people and scapegoating others! If you ask me, you're the suspicious one right now."

"Guys, guys, please calm down." Johnson ran a hand through his Shiba's fur as he spoke. "Like Tobei said, infighting will get us nowhere."

"Notice how he has so much control over everyone here?" insisted Tai. "He could probably tell us to commit seppuku and we'd all listen to him!"

"You know what?" Hayate raised his voice, clenching his fists in anger. "I'm done. I'm done with you and your bitching. I'm out of here."

With those words, he stormed out of the building and into the street. Johnson stood up and moved towards the door, but Tai blocked him.

"If he wants to die, fine with me." Tai shrugged. "Let him die if he wants to."

Kyon placed the smartphone down, changing the topic in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "No luck. As we suspected, Kenihara fiddled with our phones. Any attempts to call or contact the outside world get shut down. If we had someone who could hack, though, we might be able to change that."

"Huh," murmured Johnson. "I think Ami knows how to hack, so maybe she could help us?"

Ami Tachibana (Girl #8) was one of Johnson's close friends; close enough that some people had begun trying to set them up on dates in the past. Ami was a tech whiz, so Johnson assumed that she'd naturally know how to hack.

"Of course you bring up Ami," said Tai with a smirk. "She's basically your girlfriend after all."

"Can't argue with that," added Kyon.

"It's not like that, for the last time!" protested Johnson. "Seriously, we're just friends. That's it."

"That's what they all say," replied Tai saucily, and their conversation traversed into light-hearted territory. Soon, they were casually chatting as if Hayate had never charged out recklessly into dangerous territory.

None of them realized that that would be the last time they would ever see him.

•••

 _Elapsed Time: 0:03:00_

There were three members of Class 3-B who specifically stood out as being graciously wealthy. The first, of course, was Shan Kobayashi (Boy#6), thanks to his father's company. The second was Mio Yazaki (Girl #19), who legitimately had a superiority complex because of her family's wealth.

The third was Yamamoto Himura (Boy #16). Yamamoto's family was politically prominent; his father was a prominent government official who recently considered running for prime minister. Yamamoto was quite proud of this, and would often remind his friends that they were in the presence of the future prime minister's son.

His plan in the Battle Royale was simple: stay alive long enough for his father to bail him out or bribe Kenihara to get him out of there. For that, he'd need protection.

Over time, Yamamoto had created a sort of clique, which included Tsukasa Shimada (Boy #8), Hiromi Koyama (Girl #6), Toshimi Mitsui (Girl #17), and Daisuke Matsushita (Boy #19). Out of those four, he had only seen Hiromi within the Program's current duration; she was travelling with him, alongside the dimwitted Akihide Yoshihara (Boy #21). Interestingly enough, Akihide had received one of the most potent weapons in the Program: a single-shot AT4 rocket launcher. Hiromi, on the other hand, received a yoyo and a kendo sword, while Yamamoto himself got a small, curved sickle.

Yamamoto, of course, deemed it necessary that the weapons be redistributed to more… skilled hands. So he had Akihide trade his AT4 for Hiromi's yoyo, much to his distress. Akihide might've just left the duo then, but even he was smart enough not to wander around the Program without a legitimate weapon.

Like most of the other groups, Yamamoto deduced that it would be best to find a place to stay until daylight. He noted that the bar in G-7 would be a good place to find supplies, commenting that American bars often held secret stashes of weapons.

Around two hours into the Program, the trio stopped by a convenience store in F-5 as a rest stop. Unfortunately for Yamamoto, coincidences were not on his side; he had been diligently studying guns and weaponry prior to the Program, which had cost him a fair amount of sleep. Akihide, being the dimwit that he was, was fine with stopping since the convenience store probably had food, but Hiromi remained on edge. Despite her cool exterior, it was obvious that she was seriously worried about their circumstances.

So Yamamoto left Hiromi to worry about that, and fell asleep on the store's chairs… at least, until he was shaken awake.

"What do you want?" he hissed.

"Yama!" screeched Akihide. "Take a look outside, quick!"

Yamamoto scrambled up, grabbed his sickle, and glanced outside the windows, where another group of three had stopped to look around. It was Kyoichi Itsuka, who was well known as the leader of a "gang". He was alongside two of his underlings: Ryuuta Okamura (Boy #4) and Matsuri Okami (Girl #4). The other members of the gang were nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Tai?" hissed Akihide, denoting one of the other members of the gang.

"Knowing him, he's lurking in the shadows somewhere waiting to strike anyone who tries to ambush them," replied Hiromi, her voice barely audible. "We can try to wait them out, but I personally think that it wouldn't hurt to try and get rid of them. Who know what other kind of destruction they'll cause in the future?"

"Agreed," said Yamamoto. "They're our biggest threat as of now. They're probably the largest alliance anyways."

"Let's go then!" Before anyone could react, Akihide picked a fire extinguisher off of the wall and charged out of the building. Hiromi face-palmed as the dimwit activated the extinguisher, spraying Kyoichi and his group with pressurized water.

Everyone froze for a moment. Yamamoto stared in silence as Kyoichi, Ryuuta, and Matsuri turned to glance at Akihide.

"Nice weapon." Kyoichi smirked. "Fitting for someone like you, huh?" He turned to the others with him, gesturing to Akihide. "Matsuri, search him. Ryuuta, keep him at gunpoint for now. We can't trust him yet, can we?"

Ryuuta nodded silently, unstrapping a shotgun from his shoulder and pointing it at Akihide. The idiot raised his hands in surrender as Matsuri saucily sauntered up to him with a wink and stuck a hand into his bag, picking up a rice ball.

From Yamamoto's perspective, Kyoichi's gang was full of… interesting personalities. Ryuuta was the quieter type, but his muscular frame and strong, silent "aura" gave off an intimidating factor that could make anyone submit to Kyoichi. According to Hiromi, he had been lurking around shooting ranges since three years ago, although nobody else in the class - not even the faculty - seemed to know about this.

Of course, a gang can't get things done with force and intimidation alone; diplomacy, tact, and strategy were also a part of it. Matsuri was the closest person Kyoichi had to a "diplomacy specialist", mainly because she was somehow always able to get her way in debates with her male classmates. Playful, physically attractive, and charming, she could easily catch any of the guys off guard and seduce them with little effort. There had been rumors about Kyoichi making money off of her in a more… under-handed method, but Yamamoto thought that Kyoichi at least had the human decency not to do that.

At least, he hoped. In the Program, one's true self is often revealed… or twisted.

"No other weapons," reported Matsuri.

"Good." Kyoichi smiled. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to have someone else around. Akihide, do you want to come with us?"

Akihide was about to reply when a crossbow bolt burst through the convenience store's window, narrowly missing Yamamoto's head. Hiromi jumped to attention, warily glancing around for their attacker. Kyoichi and the gang too suddenly spun around.

"We need to get out of here," hissed Hiromi. "Someone can see us and we can't see them. There's no way to retaliate."

"No shit," retorted Yamamoto. "I knew that, okay?"

"Matsuri, detain Akihide." ordered Kyoichi. "If he was setting us up for an ambush…"

"It wasn't me, I swear!" Akihide stammered. Matsuri cut him off, shoving him roughly into a side alley and out of sight. Ryuuta swung the shotgun to and fro, searching silently for their pursuer.

A crossbow bolt whizzed through the window past Hiromi's head. Ryuuta returned fire, shooting a burst of bullets into the general direction of the hidden assailant.

"We need to get out of here now!" shouted Hiromi.

"You first!" insisted Yamamoto. "Remember, I'm the one who needs to stay alive! I might be your ticket out of here, and don't forget that!"

Unwilling to argue childishly at a time like this, Hiromi darted out the back door, scampering into the shadows of the city morning. She was grasping a pot lid as a makeshift shield, and it worked; a crossbow bolt bounced off harmlessly. Yamamoto scrambled behind her as she ran to cover again.

Ryuuta shouted an obscenity as a crossbow bolt entered his left arm, and he dropped the shotgun to the ground. Kyoichi had taken cover behind a dormant car, watching as his gunman struggled to find his own cover. Even with his injured arm, Ryuuta was miraculously able to throw himself behind the car, leaving the shotgun lying in the middle of the street.

"Why'd you leave the gun there?" protested Kyoichi. "You're an idiot!"

"That gun wouldn't help us at long range," replied Ryuuta coolly. "Besides-" He stopped, wincing as the blood dripped onto his knee. "Shotguns are heavy, don't you know that?"

"Of course I do! Now suck it up and grab the gun!" Kyoichi practically shoved Ryuuta out into the open. Left with no other option, Ryuuta scrambled for the shotgun.

"There." Hiromi pointed to an alleyway nearby, where the end of a crossbow was pointing out. The owner seemed preoccupied with Ryuuta, and as such hadn't noticed Yamamoto and Hiromi sneaking around the building.

"Let's go." Yamamoto raised his sickle and darted for the alleyway, lunging at the figure behind the crossbow. Whoever it was stepped backwards in surprise.

It was Iyumi Kawamoto (Girl #5). Iyumi was an athlete, but that was far from the most prominent part of her personality. She was infamous for her overwhelming fear of the Program. Over the past years, Iyumi studied the past Programs like a devout follower of some obscure cult. She knew the weapons and how to use them, the likelihood of success and how it correlated to the lifestyle of the students. Out of all the students in Class 3-B, she was probably the most prepared for the Program.

Most people had just laughed at Iyumi before, denoting the slim chances of them getting into a Program. Yamamoto had even bullied her in the past because of it, and as a result she despised him with all of her being. But now…

"I was right," she muttered nonsensically, her eyes glazed over with madness. "I was right this entire time, and I'll make all of you regret doubting me!"

"She's long gone. Let's put her out of her misery," murmured Hiromi softly. Nodding, Yamamoto swung the sickle at Iyumi. The girl sidestepped nimbly and slugged him in the gut, and the rich boy crumpled to the ground. She lifted the crossbow, aiming it at his head, and-

Hiromi's pot lid slammed into her left side, making her stumble to the right. The crossbow shook, jolting as it fired. The bolt ripped through Yamamoto's left hand, making him screech in pain. Not wasting a moment, Iyumi smacked the side of Hiromi's head with the crossbow's stock, sending her sprawling to the ground. Turning to Yamamoto, her eyes narrowed. The boy was still on the ground unwisely trying to pull out the bolt as he whimpered in pain.

"This is for everything you've done to disgrace me!" howled Iyumi as she reloaded the crossbow and pulled the trigger. The bolt went straight through Yamamoto's eye and pierced through his skull, sending blood and matter running down his lifeless face.

It has been stated before that war is an equalizer. No matter your social class, you get an equal chance of life and death. In a way, the Program is very similar. No matter how much money Yamamoto Himura could offer the government, they wouldn't have accepted it. He would've been trapped in the Program, destined to kill or be killed like everyone else.

Head still pounding with pain, Hiromi gritted her teeth and swung the wooden sword at Iyumi's head. The Battle Royale fanatic's head jerked wildly to the side as it made contact, and she slumped to the ground, stunned by the blow. The crossbow clattered to the ground harmlessly.

Hiromi felt no remorse or grief for Yamamoto's death. In all honesty, she was only friends with him because of his own money and his political prominence. The Koyamas were more lower-class; as such, Hiromi was always dedicating herself to studying so she could get a solid job. But she knew that allying with a prominent rich family wouldn't hurt either, so she took it upon herself to befriend Yamamoto despite his stuck-up attitude.

Nonetheless, there was still the problem of Iyumi. Hiromi's logical mind deduced that Iyumi was a clear threat; as such, Iyumi's elimination would raise her chances of survival… and triumph.

Without hesitating, Hiromi ripped the bolt out of Yamamoto's eye, loaded it in the crossbow, and fired.

 **Boy #16 Yamamoto Himura - Dead**

 **Girl #5 Iyumi Kawamoto - Dead**

 **37 Students Remaining**


	6. Hidden Depths

_Day 1_

 _Elapsed Time: 0:03:04_

From the beginning, it had been clear that Yamamoto Himura (Boy #16) and Hiromi Koyama (Girl #6) had seen Akihide Yoshihara (Boy #21) as expendable. As one may have noticed in the previous chapter, Yamamoto in particular had labeled him as the class idiot. That was the belief generally held in Class 3-B: that Akihide was nothing but an idiot.

In reality, Akihide was at least somewhat smarter and more sensible than people gave him credit for. True, he was on the dimmer side, but not exactly to the point of idiocy. He was well aware that the others didn't take him seriously, which was why he planned to stick with a crowd during the Program.

The first people he stumbled upon were Hiromi and Yamamoto. While Akihide didn't want to put up with Yamamoto's condescending attitude, he knew that travelling in a group would be his best bet. Nobody would see him as a threat; they would just assume that he was the useless tagalong kid and shoot at Yamamoto and Hiromi instead.

It was a good idea in context. Unfortunately for Akihide, he had neglected to consider Yamamoto's full personality. He had not expected for Yamamoto to take control and forcefully trade his weapon for Hiromi's, nor had he foreseen Yamamoto ordering him to confront Kyoichi Itsuka's (Boy #2) gang unarmed. But he didn't want to shatter his "airheaded idiot" image in Yamamoto's eyes, so he somewhat stupidly ran out there and talked to them anyways.

He didn't realize that Matsuri Okami (Girl #4) was so entrancing. The girl had murmured something into his ears as she was digging through his bag, but he barely noticed. She had locked eyes with him, and for a moment all control left his body, replaced with fiery desire.

Then the crossbow bolt whizzed by, shattering the trance. Panicking, he shouted "It wasn't me, I swear!" in Kyoichi's general direction. He was about to explain more, but he didn't get the chance; Matsuri's hands pushed on his shoulders, nudging him towards who-knows-where.

"I've got a proposal to make you," she cooed softly. "Why don't the two of us ditch the rest of them here?"

"But-" This went against everything Akihide had planned for. He opened his mouth in protest, but Matsuri shushed him with a teasing finger.

"The Program is infamous for tearing groups apart. Paranoia, jealousy, imaginary threats… a larger group is plagued by all those things. Once everyone turns on each other, who do you think is going to get killed first?"

The others saw Akihide as expendable. Of course he'd be the first one gone. And Matsuri… compared to Kyoichi, the one in power, and Ryuuta, the one with the gun… she actually had a point.

"But a smaller one might actually have a chance." Matsuri continued to push Akihide back, deftly turning him towards the right so they were concealed from the others' view. "We can just leave them to squabble amongst themselves and win the game on our own."

"But what about-"

"Only one victor?" Matsuri raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry about it now. When the time comes, I can probably negotiate for your freedom as well."

Something about the way she worded it bothered Akihide. Like Yamamoto, she was taking control of him. She probably saw him as the class idiot, just like the others.

From outside, Ryuuta shouted an obscenity. Akihide winced.

"Don't worry about them." Matsuri's voice was soothing and soft. "Let's just leave them behind for now. Consider it an act of revenge. They probably never valued us as real human beings anyways."

Akihide needed no other convincing. He had always wanted to take revenge upon people like Yamamoto who saw him as "lesser", and that desire had been rooted deep in his heart. After hearing this, he swept his suspicions aside and quickly agreed.

Somebody screamed behind them. Akihide visibly stiffened at the sound, thinking about what happened and who was involved. But Matsuri gently wrapped an arm around his body and began to lead him farther into the alleyways, and his thoughts were shattered like glass.

•••

 _Elapsed Time: 0:03:22_

"Stupid jerk."

Hayate Kamiya (Boy #5) stormed down the street, clutching a sheathed katana in one hand. After he stormed out of the apartment building, he had been wandering aimlessly in the dark with no visible goal.

Vengeful thoughts towards Tai rocked his head as he strode. He couldn't stop thinking about the shady boy's accusatory attitude. In his eyes, Tai had been deliberately trying to destroy the group from the inside. He was trying to tear the group apart in that subtle way of his. Frankly, he was probably secretly playing the game.

Hayate had been doing swordplay since he was six years old. He knew the kendo style like the back of his hand, and had moderate understanding of Chinese swordsmanship techniques. Compared to his Class 3-B classmates, he was probably the best suited for close combat.

Still lost in thought, he mindlessly opened up a house door, trudged up the stairs, and plopped himself down onto the second floor balcony. There he sat for a fifteen or so minutes, thinking about what he was going to do when he next saw Tai.

A smirk appeared on Hayate's face as he unsheathed the katana. Unbeknownst to the others, he had actually taken Tobei Yamashita's (Boy #20) katana, leaving the identical fake in the apartment building. He had nothing against Tobei; he actually respected the guy a lot. To him, it was a necessary evil to give Tai the treatment he deserved.

In a way, Hayate also saw it as an act of rebellion. He'd show Kenihara and the government his own skill with the sword, and then they'd regret humiliating him by leaving him the fake. He assumed that the government would put up their Program on television, as they always did; as such, a more entertaining performance would probably make them much more cash.

That way, if he miraculously escaped the Program, he'd at least have some way of negotiating with the government if they caught him again.

Something snapped him out of his thoughts, and he noticed movement on the ground below. It was a girl; he couldn't tell who she was, but she was seemingly unarmed.

Hayate smiled. His instincts told him to leap forwards, to jump out and kill her there and then. But, of course, there was another part of him that was holding back. He probably knew this person's name. She was a classmate, after all… maybe she wasn't playing either.

No, she probably was playing. There were plenty of girls who would probably be playing. Besides, the girls were apparently more likely to survive.

Hayate had heard a theory once that the likelihood of a girl being the winner was higher because the boys were naturally overly aggressive. According to the article, the boys were more likely to backstab their alliances and destroy their own allies, or spontaneously and accidentally kill someone.

Plus, on the bright side, it would just be extra practice. Practice for Tai. Hayate had never tried to kill anyone with his blade, so of course he'd need practice.

Hayate didn't waste another moment. Unsheathing the pristine katana, he darted out of the apartment and gracefully swung the blade at his prey's neck.

At least, that was the intention. Whoever it was twirled away at the last second, and his blade hit nothing but thin air.

Hayate opened his mouth to mutter a confused "Wha?", but was rudely interrupted by a burst of searing pain through his neck. His vision blurred as he blindly felt at his wound, pawing at it as the blood spilled onto the street. He never even had a chance to see his assailant's face.

He was dead before he hit the ground. The katana clattered down lifelessly, now robbed of the graceful passion that had been guiding it before. The gun that had taken his life slid back into its owner's pocket.

"Now that's a pretty picture," murmured Natsumi Mikami (Girl #16) as she looked down at Hayate's corpse. With one hand, she picked up the katana, dipped it in his still-bubbling neck like a paintbrush, and sketched a bloody "1" into the ground next to him.

"That's one masterpiece done." A thin smile slid onto Natsumi's face as she walked away from her classmate's body. "Now for the other forty."

 _Elapsed Time: 0:04:12_

To most of Class 3-B, Kyoichi Itsuka's clique was known as his "gang". The prominent members, however, received a different title: the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Ryuuta Okamura (Boy #4) was "Conquest" thanks to his physical strength and uncanny skills with intimidation. Matsuri Okami (Girl #4) was "War", mainly because she could probably instigate a war just by flirting with both sides. Tai Sugiura (Boy #12) was "Famine"; he was like a plague, skulking in the shadows and setting enemies up to destroy themselves. The fourth Horseman, "Death", was Karin Yukimura (Girl #21). Karin's skills were still an enigma to most of Class 3-B, however, for she had only recently joined the gang.

However, there were a few others who associated with Kyoichi's gang, such as Shunpei Furuya (Boy #18). Shunpei kept his relations with Kyoichi under wraps, so practically no one knew about their connection. He never spoke about it, even with his closest friends.

That said, Shunpei was too much of a cynic to really call anyone his "closest friend". The closest thing you could get to that would be Daisuke Matsushita (Boy #19), but Daisuke was nice to everyone. So he didn't count.

Shunpei had worried a little about his relations with the gang when the Program started, but he pushed those aside after his encounter with Masaharu Akamine (Boy #1). As the Program continued, his worries became more about their group's safety.

Of course, when the masked figure showed up, he immediately began shouting "See? I told you!" at his two comrades. The newcomer was shrouded in a hooded jacket, and his - or her - face was concealed by a mask similar to that of _Street Fighter II_ 's Vega. In their hands was a nailgun, loaded and ready to fire.

Whoever it was walked into the convenience store and shot a nail at Masaharu, narrowly missing his head. The boy dropped the playing cards he was holding, grabbed his textbook, and took cover behind the cash register.

"What the-" Toshimi Mitoratsu (Girl #17) leapt backwards as the nail hit the wall. "Shunpei, I thought you were watching the door!"

"If Sonic the Hedgehog rushed into the door, I wouldn't have been able to stop him," retorted Shunpei. "I can't catch everything, you know."

"We've got a bigger problem!" Masaharu held the textbook in a defensive position. The newcomer fired again, sending another nail whizzing through the air. It soared past Toshimi's ear and bounced off the glass window.

"Eat this!" Toshimi picked up her revolver and fired a shot with both hands.

 _BANG!_

The recoil sent a jolt through her arms and shoulders, and the cheerful girl lost her balance and stumbled backwards. The shot went wild, shattering the glass windows near the convenience store's entrance.

The unknown figure didn't waste a moment. In one swift movement, they turned around and returned fire, sending a nail straight towards Toshimi's body.

"Watch out!"

Masaharu grabbed Toshimi and roughly pulled her aside, and the nail bounced harmlessly off the shelf behind her. The two landed in a heap on the ground; Masaharu raised the textbook defensively again as the unknown figure approached them.

For a moment, Shunpei realized that he was actually okay with letting Masaharu and Toshimi get killed. After all, both of them had been annoyingly obnoxious in class.

Then his moral compass re-straightened and he leapt into action. Using both arms, he swung the tomahawk in a horizontal arc towards the newcomer's head.

"Nice try." It was a masculine voice. In the intensity of the moment, nobody could identify who it was.

The newcomer ducked. Shunpei's strike went wild, and the force of his blow sent him stumbling forwards. His opponent darted out of reach towards the door.

"I didn't expect three people to be here already," he murmured. "I've wasted enough time here as is, though, and this place is a dangerous area right now. Might as well give you guys a parting gift before I leave."

"What do you mean by that?" Toshimi stood up and pointed the revolver's tip at the newcomer. Before she could fire, however, their assailant darted off into the morning night.

"Oh jeez, people are actually playing," muttered Masaharu.

Shunpei was about to retort snarkily, but was abruptly interrupted by a sharp sizzling. The back wall was suddenly engulfed in flames, sending shockwaves of heat into the room.

"What the-" began Masaharu.

"Fire!" Toshimi leapt off the ground and grabbed Shunpei by the collar. "We need to leave now!"

"Hey hey hey hey!" protested Shunpei as he was dragged out the door. "I'm not useless like some people! I have legs, you know!"

Panting hard, the two of them bolted out of the convenience store. Masaharu was right behind them, carrying three supply bags in his arms.

"You forgot these," he said helpfully.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Shunpei glanced at the convenience store; the building was emitting plumes of expanding smoke into the air. He coughed once and took his bag from Masaharu.

"Great, everyone knows where we are now," he muttered. "And Toshimi, please learn to use the gun sometime other than in the middle of combat, will you?"

"Is he always like this?" Toshimi ignored the remark and turned to Masaharu.

"He's not that bad once you get used to him, you know." Masaharu tossed the second bag to her. "So, where to?"

"If you ask me, we should find another shelter," said Shunpei. "We should get out of here ASAP. That smoke is making it painfully obvious where we are right now."

"Okay then," said Masaharu. "Lead on, commander."

 **Boy #5 Hayate Kamiya - Dead**

 **36 Students Remaining**


	7. Ironic Echoes

_Day 1_

 _Elapsed Time: 0:04:44_

Matsuri Okami (Girl #4) playfully tugged Akihide Yoshihara (Boy #21) out of the elevator and into the second floor hallway of the hotel. They had been running for a little while since the confrontation with Kyoichi Itsuka (Boy #2); they ran through E-5 and turned south into E-6 before stopping to look around. Matsuri had deduced that a hotel complex would be quite a useful stop for supplies and other weapons, and could serve as a solid base of operations.

Under normal circumstances, Akihide would've noticed that she was ever-so-slightly beginning to do all the thinking for him and treat him like an idiot, but any possibility of the thought dissipated when she pulled him into the elevator like an elegant dancer.

He pondered what Matsuri would actually look like if she decided to do professional dancing, but pushed the thought aside and remembered that they were in the Program.

Almost immediately, they got to work. The two of them split up; Matsuri had previously obtained all of the hotel keycards, which would allow them to freely scavenge the abandoned rooms. Kenihara had said that the denizens of this area had been evacuated under a false terrorist alert, which implied that there was still some supplies left in the buildings. Of course, the government probably went through the entire area and filtered out the things they didn't want Class 3-B to see.

After clearing out half the floor, they returned to one of the vacant rooms and sat down.

"Any luck?" asked Matsuri.

In response, Akihide fished through his bag and pulled a couple items out. "I found a small pocketknife, a broken pipe, a bunch of rope, and this thing." He took a toy slingshot out of his bag and placed it alongside the rest.

"That's better than a jar of thumbtacks, a fishing rod, an umbrella, and an empty bottle of alcohol," replied Matsuri.

"Hey, it might just give us a chance," he said, shrugging. "Every advantage counts."

Matsuri giggled. For a moment, panic struck Akihide, and he wondered if he had said something stupid again.

"What's so funny?"

"I like the way you say _us_ ," she replied, fixing her gaze through Akihide's head. "We never really interacted back in class, but now we're here and working together just like that. In a way, we wouldn't be talking here like this if it weren't for the Program."

It was true. Akihide had never really interacted with Matsuri; she had just been another name in the classroom to him. At that moment, he realized that this might've been the first time they had ever spoken together.

"I guess… that's an optimistic viewpoint," he said. "But… maybe thinking positive is all we can do now."

"You know…" Matsuri stood up and repositioned herself so that she was sitting alongside Akihide. "Even though we never talked, I still knew who you were."

It was the same for Akihide; he had heard of Matsuri Okami as one of Kyoichi's "Horsemen of the Apocalypse". He questioned why she had earned that title, since she seemed quite harmless enough.

"Akihide the idiot?" offered Akihide, continuing the conversation. "You can blame Yamamoto for that. It was his original idea."

"No, not that." Matsuri shook her head. "I kinda realized it was a rumor all along, so I never really believed in that. Plus, I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of the real you - the real Akihide that has been buried underneath everything."

Her words sent chills down Akihide's body. There was only one person who he really felt comfortable being himself around. He had tried to stay as quiet and invisible as possible in class in an attempt to ditch the "Idiot" label, so he could only truly open up around this person.

 _Yet Matsuri was able to see through it all…?_

"I've seen your kind heart," she continued. "I noticed when you offered to help Hayate with his sword practice, and how you always helped Boss and Ryu with their projects after they inevitably got stuck. It's such a shame that you weren't able to show that to everyone else…"

Akihide was unsure how to respond, simply because no one had ever said that before. Even after becoming an "Idiot", he always tried to be as helpful and kind as possible. He had always thought that it was an unrequited act, but now Matsuri was saying that she appreciated it.

The girl suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders and roughly kissed him on the lips, pushing the back of his head into the side of the wall. Just as before, Akihide was unsure to respond, mainly since this was an entirely new experience for him.

A moment passed before they separated.

"Aki…" murmured Matsuri quietly. "I… I'm sorry, but… this is the Program, and we'll probably die and… I have loved you ever since I saw your kind heart. Would you… "

Spontaneous force seized Akihide's body. "Y-yes, of course…"

Matsuri didn't waste a moment. She wrapped both arms around his body and kissed him again with passionate force, and his eyes snapped shut in response.

Time was no longer a luxury they had. Akihide had never fully experienced the power of love and desire, so it was a great unknown to him. In the little time he had left, he decided to explore his unknowns before it was too late.

•••

Looking at something from a different perspective can often make a scene much more interesting. For example, Matsuri Okami's thoughts were far from similar to Akihide's.

Matsuri had a simple but efficient plan for the Program: she would become a hitch-hiker. She would find one of the guys and seduce him, lulling him into a false sense of commonplace and trust. By travelling with him, she would also be kept safe from any major threats - such as Kyoichi Itsuka and the rest of his gang.

Matsuri was well aware that Kyoichi was prone to abandoning his subordinates when he felt that they were no longer useful. She also knew that Ryuuta Okamura (Boy #4) was worth much more to Kyoichi than herself. Ryuuta was a physical powerhouse and knew how to shoot. Matsuri, on the other hand, was ultimately a millstone that needed to be provided for, as she was only useful in certain situations that would inevitably become rarer as her classmates went insane and lost the ability to reason. Maybe, if she survived long enough, she could prove her worth to Kyoichi once more… by outwitting and killing him.

With that conclusion, one of the Itsuka Family's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse decided to abandon ship.

After about four minutes, Matsuri opened her eyes, double-checked that Akihide's were still closed, slid a hand into her bag, and raised her assigned weapon - a meat cleaver - towards the side of Akihide's head.

Akihide squirmed a bit, but Matsuri had wrapped her legs around his waist and her other arm was still restraining his upper body. The idiot didn't even think to open his eyes.

With her free hand, she plunged the meat cleaver into-

•••

Akihide's eyes shot open when he heard the sound. It sounded like someone had smashed something against something else, and it was right in front of his face.

Just like before, Matsuri Okami was facing him. However, there were two main differences: she had been holding a nasty-looking meat cleaver, and she was lying lifelessly in his arms like a ragdoll.

"She's not dead, just unconscious."

The voice made him snap to attention, and he realized that someone else was there.

"You're getting careless, Aki. What is this, the third time I've had to help you out?"

Akihide looked up at his savior. "Heh… thanks, I guess."

Standing over him was the one person he truly felt comfortable with: Sherman Tendo (Boy #14). In his hands was a small bronze lamppost.

"Sherman?"

"Who wants a piece of my lamp?" Sherman twirled the lamppost around. "Glad to see you're alive, Aki. Though we have another problem: what shall we do with her?"

It took a moment for Akihide to realize that Matsuri had been bluffing the entire time. She had specifically said those things to earn his trust, just so he would lower his guard.

 _Traitorous bitch!_

"She deserves to die," he seethed. "I put my faith in her, and she was just trying to _backstab_ me this entire time. Scum like that don't deserve to live."

Before Akihide could pick up the meat cleaver and kill Matsuri, a hand wrapped around his arm.

"We can't do that," said Sherman solemnly. "We're only four hours into the Program. Has your moral compass deteriorated that much? Program or no Program, killing someone is wrong and should only be used as a last resort. It will haunt you forever, if you manage to survive."

Akihide pushed his anger aside to listen and heaved an exhausted sigh. "Y-you're right, Sherman. But then… what should we do?"

In response, Sherman picked up the thumbtacks they had gathered with fiery eyes. "If we have the supplies to pull it off… I have an idea."

•••

Sherman Tendo was a Japanese American who had immigrated to his parents' home country a couple years before. He preferred being addressed by his American name for reasons uncertain. Yamamoto Himura (Boy #16) had once joked that Sherman had done this because he was still attached to America.

After arriving to class, Sherman instantaneously shocked the class with his serene, mature appearance. He practically emitted calm and tranquility, giving him the appearance of a perfect person.

Of course, his twin sister Megumi Tendo (Girl #9) knew this was all fake. Unlike Sherman, she was much quieter and shy, preferring to stay unnoticed in the background. This had always been a part of her personality, even before the Incident.

Megumi carried a secret that she had hidden from even Sherman, who knew her better than anyone else. Within the past few months, she had noticed that her own mental stability had begun to teeter. She would become overwhelmed by stress and enter "phases" of instability, followed by periods of calm and realization of what had just happened.

By sheer luck, she had been able to maintain this secret in front of her twin brother and her entire class. Of course, then came the Program… which meant that it probably was all meaningless now.

Seeing Yuusuke Shimizu (Boy #9) walk out of the school with an enormous rifle (maybe almost as tall as he was, she thought, were he holding it vertically!) was the last straw. Unable to put together the images of the friendly, likable Yuusuke with the rifle, Megumi abandoned logical thought. The walls of her mind shattered, leaving nothing but an irrational urge to win the Program.

Her designated weapon was a scalpel. Sure, it could've been better, but it also could've been worse. At least you can kill with a scalpel.

Megumi spent the next few hours wandering aimlessly through the streets. Had she checked her map, she would've noticed that she was in E-1.

When she noticed the plumes of smoke coming from a building a little while away, she immediately realized that someone else was probably there. Not wanting to waste an opportunity to potentially win the Program, she began to make her way towards the direction of D-1 to get there.

It didn't take long for her to run into someone else on the way, however. Her ambusher was wearing a hooded jacket and some kind of mask, preventing her from identifying who it was. In his hand was a nailgun.

 _A nailgun? I could've sworn I saw Rei with a nailgun… is that Rei?_

Unfortunately for Megumi, psychological instability tends to do things to judgement. When someone is pointing a gun at you, it is usually not a good idea to try and identify who it is.

"Rei? Is that you?"

Beams of pain pierced through her belly and shoulder as the assailant fired. Megumi's body was thrown back by the impact, and she stumbled backwards and onto the ground.

"Interesting observation. Close, but not exactly."

The voice was masculine. If Megumi had still retained logical thought, she probably would've been able to figure out who it was. After all, she had very sensitive ears and was good at analyzing sounds and music.

Not wasting a moment, the assailant raised the gun again and sent a nail through the center of Megumi's forehead, effectively ensuring that her secret would remain unknown.

For now.

 _Elapsed Time: 0:06:00_

As it turns out, the government had been going through the area beforehand to secure it. They also had precisely placed cameras and loudspeakers all throughout the city, ensuring that everyone would be able to hear Kazumitsu Kenihara's timely announcements concerning the deaths of their classmates.

How lovely.

Speaking of lovely…

"Goooood morning lovely students! Hope you've been enjoying your first couple hours of the Program! I'm quite pleased to see that some of you are really getting into the game; it's always interesting for me to discover one of the most unlikely candidates suddenly transform into a serious player!"

This instantaneously caught the attention of Shunpei Furuya (Boy #18). Being naturally paranoid, he quickly scribbled a reminder in his notebook that someone had already succumbed to the pressure of the Program.

"Now then, onto the dead. Please make sure to write this down in your casualty log, as it will probably be quite helpful later on. Our game's first kill was Girl #12, Hagane Rei. Her last hour was topped off with an interestingly dramatic end, but her life was ultimately cut short by an unlikely assassin. Had she lived, she might've made the game quite interesting. Kudos to to the killer; you got the first kill."

Kenihara paused for a moment, taking a breath and flipping through a paper. Shunpei presumed it was the report of the dead.

"After her were Boy #17, Fukuda Hotaru and Girl #2, Uramen Nanae. As these two can testify, poor communication can literally kill. Maybe if you shout your intentions for peace out towards the world, you might get a little farther in the game… at least, if you don't give away your position and get killed."

Everyone knew that Ryu Fukuda was one of the two members of the "Inseparable Duo". Shunpei couldn't help but wonder about how Boss was holding up with his friend's death. As for Nanae, he couldn't care less about her. Nanae was always just a sheep blindly following Ren Aokawa (Girl #1), so Shunpei had never felt any emotional attachment to her.

"Next up was Boy #16, Himura Yamamoto. One of the class's rich kids is one of the first to go; is that really a surprise? Though I was intrigued by what he was trying to do, not that it would have worked. This type of kid always tries to bribe their way out of things after all."

 _Bribery, huh?_

Shunpei chuckled under his breath. In his eyes, Yamamoto had always been one to throw money at his troubles until they faded away.

"After him was Girl #5, Kawamoto Iyumi. Quite unfortunate, honestly; she seemed to have a lot of potential, especially with her prior studying of the Programs. I would have expected her to survive longer - possibly even winning."

 _The nutcase died? Not surprising. Frankly, she probably went insane._

"Boy #5, Kamiya Hayate. This boy had skills like a budding samurai; one would've expected him to have a mind like one too, but I guess not. Not important now, since he's nothing but an art project now. Though that was a pretty unpleasant trick you pulled on your friend… most likely, he'll find out about that at the worst moment."

 _Art project…?_

 _Why would Kenihara describe him as an art project? The only thing-_

 _No way. I always thought she was a little crazy, but not this insane…_

"The most recent casualty so far is Girl #9, Tendo Megumi. It's always interesting to see what happens to the unstable ones. There have been times when the victors were insane, while other times the insane folks just charge out and get themselves killed. Unfortunately for Megumi, this time it was the latter."

Shunpei idly wrote down everything that he had heard. Beside him, he saw Toshimi Mitoratsu (Girl #17) fall on her knees in shock. Masaharu Akamine (Boy #1) rushed to her side to comfort her.

"That's seven dead, and thirty-four to go," continued Kenihara. "Now for the danger zones: at 7:00, G-3 becomes volatile. At 9:00, A-7 becomes unsafe, and at 11:00, walking into E-5 will reward you with an explosive surprise. That's all I've got for you now; until we meet again, good luck and stay alive!"

"What does he think this is, a joke?" muttered Shunpei bitterly. "Some kind of goddamn comedy show?"

"This is going to become a television show, you know." Masaharu's cheerful exposition was gone for the first time. "If we all get killed, the world will get to watch us. Isn't that an honor?"

"That's why we've got to go out with a bang." Newfound confidence surged through Shunpei's body. "If we make our Program gruesome enough, wouldn't it shock the viewers into pushing for its closure?"

"Someone tried that a couple years back," said Masaharu glumly. "It didn't work, obviously."

"What's to stop us from trying too?" replied Shunpei. "If we're still alive, we can all just blow ourselves up or something."

" _Quit saying that!"_

Toshimi burst up in anger, shoving Shunpei onto the concrete with a firm hand. The boy was taken completely off guard; he had never seen Toshimi angry in the years he had known her.

"Stop saying that everyone's going to die, Shunpei," she murmured between sobs. "Please… all we can do is cling onto our hopes now. Why do you always have to… be such a cynical person?"

Shunpei had honestly never thought about that. He had no response.

"Listen…" Toshimi sat up on the side of the street, burying her head in her hands. "Somewhere out there our friends are killing each other senselessly. The least we can do is fight to change this, so no one else will have to suffer the same fate. There is nothing worse than a senseless death, but our friends and maybe even us - we might die a pointless, senseless death if nothing changes."

Silence.

They sat in silence for a while, just thinking about everyone else whose futures had been robbed by the Program. They sat and thought of the countless other senseless deaths, and a spark for potential change.

 **Girl #9 Megumi Tendo - Dead**

 **35 Students Remaining**


End file.
